Gubbins secures Metro Bank accolade

Hampshire captain Nick Gubbins has been crowned the Metro Bank One Day Cup Men’s Player of the Year after topping the PCA’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) Rankings, powered by OFX, with 155.22 points.

The 31-year-old ended the competition as the leading run-scorer with 707 at an average of 88.37 and a strike-rate well above 100. This included scoring 144 on two separate occasions in the group stage, setting a new List A personal best.

The left-handed batter will be awarded a bespoke trophy from Mappin & Webb along with £2,500 prize money for winning the MVP award in the 50-over competition.

Gubbins was awarded the accolade at the end of a thrilling final at Trent Bridge, which saw Worcestershire win their first 50-over title. They did so in dramatic style – needing 13 to win off the final over, Henry Cullen hitting his first delivery for four to seal the victory with two balls remaining. That came after Ali Orr’s century led Hampshire to 237-7 in the first innings, with the Rapids chasing down a revised total of 188 from 27 overs thanks in part to Ethan Brookes’ 57 from just 34 balls.

The Metro Bank One Day Cup was mostly contested in the month of August, with Gubbins shining right from the start. He secured 147.27 MVP points that month, which saw him earn a place as an opener alongside Yorkshire’s Imam-ul-Haq in the PCA’s Team of the Month for August.

Over the course of the competition, Gubbins went on to win two Match MVPs. His first came against Surrey where he picked up 24.06 points as Hampshire chased down 160 in 19 overs to record a nine-wicket victory. The opener scored 87 not out from 60 balls at a strike-rate of 145.

His second Match MVP was against Nottinghamshire Outlaws at the Utilita Bowl, where he matched his previous career best List A score of 144. An innings comprising of 14 fours and four sixes, Gubbins earned 25.44 MVP points for that knock. Unfortunately, his team ended the game on the losing side after Jack Haynes’ 97 led the Outlaws to a four-wicket win.

Essex captain Tom Westley and Gloucestershire’s James Bracey finished second and third respectively. Westley picked up 149.88 MVP points after scoring 561 runs at an average of 70.12 and led the MVP going into the final. He too picked up two Match MVPs in the competition, with his best performance coming against Gloucestershire.

The right-hander secured 28.16 MVP points as Essex beat their opponents by 130 runs in Chelmsford, with the captain contributing 92 runs and also taking two wickets in the game.

Bracey ended with 130.03 points after scoring 572 runs. Out of his two Match MVP honours, his highest total came against Nottinghamshire where he picked up 36.21 points after a blistering 186 from 150 balls to take Gloucestershire to a 52-run win at Trent Bridge.

Upon winning the Metro Bank One Day Men’s Player of the Year, Nick Gubbins said: “It was a never-ending day. It was quite hard to know how to go about it with the bat, but I thought Ali Orr played exceptionally well in those circumstances. When the Duckworth-Lewis[-Stern] total came through, we felt we had a very good chance to defend that. Small margins in this game. Worcestershire struck the ball really well with Waite and Brookes at the end.

“Credit to Worcestershire. It is really a tough loss this but if there was any team we were going to lose to I actually wanted it to be them with what they have been through over the last couple of years with the passing of Josh [Baker]. I gather his family is here today. I am really pleased for them, and I hope they can celebrate this as some things are bigger than cricket.”

The Metro Bank One Day Cup Men’s Player of the Year was selected by the PCA Most Valuable Player Rankings, powered by OFX, the PCA’s Official FX Partner. The formula takes into account expected performance on every ball according to CricViz’s extensive database. The algorithm also considers the historic performances of the venue each fixture is being played at, therefore giving a more accurate reflection of the top performers in the game than traditional batting and bowling averages do.

Gubbins now joins Jordan Cox and David Willey as a domestic MVP winner in the men’s game. Cox was named The Hundred Men’s Player of the Year after gaining 159.89 points, while Northamptonshire Steelbacks captain Willey won the Vitality Blast Men’s Player of the Year after dominating the MVP Rankings with 293.03 points.

Things are still close in the Men’s Domestic Overall MVP standings as we head towards the final week of the domestic summer. Warwickshire all-rounder Ed Barnard maintains his place at the top of the table with 538.97 points. Sussex’s James Coles is second with 517.91, while Worcestershire youngster Brookes’ points haul of 495.91 sees him in third position.

The Rothesay County Championship Player of the Year will be the final men’s domestic MVP award that will be awarded this season on Saturday, 27 September. As things stand, Hampshire bowler Kyle Abbott leads the way with 302.98 points but is closely followed by Coles and Yorkshire’s George Hill with 301.69 and 281.94 points respectively.

View the Metro Bank One Day Cup and Men’s Domestic MVP Rankings here.

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